The Irony of Effective Leadership in Fathers of Nations
"Effective leadership guarantees its people security and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities."Discuss the irony of this statement based on Fathers of Nations.
Many political leaders promise to protect their people and share resources and opportunities fairly, but sometimes, these leaders do the opposite. This is seen in Fathers of Nations which shows how African leaders make promises they do not keep. They say they will bring security and fairness, but they only care about their own comfort and power. This makes the statement “Effective leadership guarantees its people security and equitable distribution of resources and opportunities” very ironic, because the leaders in the book do the exact opposite.
The leaders’ actions during the Banjul summit reveal how they prioritize their own comfort and image over the real needs of the people. These leaders talk about helping their countries, but they do not care about the real struggles of ordinary people. Instead of staying with the citizens, they all stay in the fancy Pinnacle Hotel, far from the public. The army places a thousand soldiers and a hundred commandos around the hotel, just to protect them. Meanwhile, Gambians suffer. Water is redirected from public taps to decorate the hotel fountains, leaving poor neighborhoods without water. Roadside kiosks that poor families depend on are destroyed to impress visitors. All these actions show that the leaders are more focused on impressing each other and staying safe than on helping their people. This moment shows that leadership is not used for fairness or safety of the people. It is used for personal gain and public show.
Professor Kimani’s personal experiences highlight how failed leadership brings suffering to honest citizens instead of offering them support and justice. He once believed in making universities relevant to society and fought for change. But after losing his daughter Tuni in a road accident and watching corrupt politicians like Newborn succeed, he becomes hopeless. Tuni dies because of poor transport systems and lack of emergency support. The trailer crushes her in a minibus, and nobody can save her because systems are weak and safety is ignored. Kimani sees how MPs now earn more than professors, with tax-free salaries and self-made laws to keep their wealth. His wife Asiya leaves him for a corrupt MP, and his university punishes him instead of supporting him. This personal loss shows how the government fails to protect or reward honest people. Kimani's story proves that instead of giving security and fair opportunities, leadership in the book leads to injustice and suffering.
Pastor Chiamaka’s experience with the mysterious guide shows how leadership uses fear and control instead of trust and fairness. He is chosen to be part of a secret mission to push Path Alpha, a strategy different from Way Omega. At first, he is confident and brave. But when his anonymous guide calls and gives him orders without revealing his identity, Chiamaka starts to feel powerless. The guide shouts at him, demands total obedience, and even spies on him at the hotel bar. Chiamaka apologizes and agrees to everything, even when it makes him uncomfortable. The guide, who is part of AGDA, shows how even groups that claim to help Africa can be controlling and dishonest. This shows how power is used not to support or protect people, but to control and silence them. Leadership is not about fairness here, it is about fear and manipulation.
The Way Omega summit itself shows how leaders pretend to support development while avoiding real change and protecting their own interests. Dr. Afolabi, the advisor at the summit, hopes Way Omega will end coups, unfair elections, and corruption. But journalist Ms. McKenzie reminds him that many of the presidents at the summit are the same people who caused these problems. They gained power through violence or cheating, and they have no interest in true change. Even the seating at the summit is done in alphabetical order just to avoid conflict, not to support fairness. Countries like Zimbabwe are always placed at the back and cannot even hear the speakers. Leaders avoid difficult conversations and prefer surface-level solutions. Instead of real action to help their people, the summit becomes a performance. This shows again that leadership is not really about justice or fairness.
In conclusion, these events show that effective leadership does not always bring security or fairness. In fact, the leaders care more about themselves than about their people.
